The Mafia 's Influence On Hip Hop

The Mafia, just like the Forty Thieves, was a tight group of immigrants living together hoping to make money and exploit anything they could. “"Mafia" was originally the name of a loose association of Sicilians in the middle ages who collaborated for protection and vigilante law enforcement during the Spanish occupation of the island.” The Mafia was particularly centered in large cities like New York. Italian immigrants came to America looking for a better life with greater opportunities. “In New York City alone, the number of Italians soared from 20,000 to 250,000 between 1880 and 1890, and by 1910, that number had jumped to 500,000 immigrants.” The increase in the number of Italians in New York meant there was a greater chance that they could potentially break the law and join

These members were the ones who did the dirty work but despite that the Mafia had about 3000-4000 members. Also they had associates who were at the bottom where they weren’t full members. They started of making money by selling illegal rum and other alcohol during the prohibition in the early 1930’s. Soon after that the prohibition was repealed in 1933. The Mafia quickly extended its area of illegal crimes to gambling,drug trafficking, kickback and protection shakedowns, and even prostitution. They enjoyed a time of dominance where they set up casinos, hijacked trucks, and had members on almost every street in New York City. Soon the government cracked down on gambling and broke into casinos and destroyed over 1000 slot machines belonging to the Mafia. Also they found Lucky Luciano guilty of many illegal crimes after prostitutes testified against him in court. In 1936 Luciano was arrested and sentenced to 35 years in prison. His underboss Genovese was given authority but he fled to Italy. This led to a time of decline of the Mafia in the late

During the 1920s in an effort to reduce crime and corruption the prohibition on alcohol was passed, little did these law makers know they were only worsening the situation. The streets started to run rampant with crime, and bootleggers rose to power as organized raised as well. As organized crime rose so did the Mafiosas. Throughout the 20th century the mafia has controlled the organized crime scene with an unwavering fist only for its rule to be challenged by other families. The mafia 's bosses give each family its own unique style whether they be a media persona like Al Capone, A brutal killer like Charles Luciano, or completely insane like George Moran.

In seventh grade, I stumbled my way upon the Detroit based rapper Eminem. I was at 150 listens on his track The Real Slim Shady before I knew it. I then found my way into Kanye West, which exploded my interest into the genre. I have listened to all of the considered essential hip hop “classic” and modern day albums. I noticed in these “classic” albums very distinct change in subject matter and style that each of the different areas of rappers on where they originate from. Some people believe that the hip-hop culture is at a decline with the lose of this uniqueness and individuality shown in each of these areas. I too even thought that the hip-hop culture was at a decline until I was researching my topic, but instead this individuality and uniqueness in the rapper’s different stories that they tell in their raps. The genre has expanded throughout the world and continued to evolve while sticking to these roots of individuality and uniqueness.

The vast amount of wealth caused much dictation over the country and the mafia then came to the United States in 1860. These members owned many businesses, land, homes, and much more wealth (Frank 64.) The mafia has also been named “a second government (Kelly 80.) ” Prohibition was one of the main reasons that mob leaders had gotten widely spread due to the demand of alcohol and casinos.

The Sicilian Mafiosi escaped to the US after being attacked by the fascist regime, bringing with them mob culture (History Wed). The Italian Mafia is a secret society affiliated with organized crime and family ties. In the 1920’s The American Mafia, or La Cosa Nostra, was active across New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago and New England (FBI Web). The Mob rose to power during the Prohibition era

Rap and hip-hop first started to come together in the 1970 's, but didn 't really materialize and become popular until the 1990 's. With a huge surge in popularity and growth in the 1990 's, it seemed that rap and hip-hop had started a cultural phenomenon that still has noticeable effects easily seen today in music and also in pop culture. A cultural phenomenon is an idea, trend, or movement that shapes and defines that time period. During the 1990 's, rap and hip-hop spread like wild fire across the nation, from the inner cities to the suburbs to anywhere where you can find a radio. Rap and hip-hop brought a different kind of lyrical rhythms and upbeat, energetic music that most people weren’t too familiar with. This cultural

The American Mafia in Chicago is different from the American Mafia in New York in that the Outfit has continuously been a compliant venture with other groups and there is a lack of independent entrepreneurs. The Outfit is an Italian-American crime organization. The Outfit has habitually been structured on the origin of separate street crews connected with particular geographic areas. Each Outfit crew is composed of made guys and associates who are said to be “connected.” The street boss and his lieutenants, if they are of Italian heritage, are made guys. Everyone else linked to the crew is an associate. Also, in Chicago, made guys hold supervisory status. For the most part, each street crew, acts freely of the other crews and each street boss,

Hip-hop culture began to develop in the south Bronx area of New York City during the 1970s. It had a significant influence in the music industry. Hip-hop music generally includes rapping, but other elements such as sampling and beatboxing also play important roles. Rapping, as a key part in the hip-hop music, takes different forms, which including signifying, dozen, toast and jazz poetry. Initially, hip-hop music was a voice of people living in low-income areas, reflecting social, economic and political phenomenon in their life [1]. As time moves on, hip-hop music reached its “golden age”, where it became a mainstream music, featuring diversity, quality, innovation and influence [2]. Gangsta rap, one of the most significant innovations in

The controversy of Hip-Hop and Rap being that it is “only about violence” or “uninfluential” is one that has been around since the eighties. But is it really all about violence, sex, drugs, or protest? Yes, there are rap groups that only rap about violence, sex, drugs, or protest, but that is a genre called “trap” music. When mentioning of the original artists in the trap music genre, rappers such as Waka Flocka Flame, Gucci Mane, Young Jeezy, and Lil’ Wayne come to mind which rap about sex, drugs, and violence. There are other genres that rap about enlightenment, good morals, and inspiration called “conscious rap.” Conscious hip hop or socially conscious hip-hop is a subgenre of hip hop that consists of political, religious, third-eye enlightenment, or philosophical relations. Most people only think there is one genre of rap and that is “trap” and that is the genre most people don’t realize even exist. With the rise of popularity of conscious rap hopefully people will have a second and better opinion of the upcoming genre.

The Italian Mafia in the U.S. can trace its origins all the way back to the Sicilian Mafia which was founded in Sicily during the 1800’s (Italian Organized Crime). After thousands of years of different armies with different nationalities conquering Italy and exploiting its people, the Sicilians became to be more clannish and family focused. Originally they were just resistance fighters that were protecting their friends and family. They were relied on for protection, justice, and survival. Nobody cared if they got money from it because it came from the oppressive authorities. Members of these groups were known as “Men of Honor” and they were well respected and even admired because they looked out for their family and kept silent sometimes even unto death. They didn’t become an organized crime group until the 1920’s however (Italian Organized Crime). It was around this same time that the US began to see what later became La Cosa Nostra or “our thing,” better known as the American Mafia which was aided by the “thousands of Italian organized crime figures, mostly Sicilian Mafiosi” who came to the United States illegally (Italian Organized Crime). The modern American Mafia is credited to Charles “Lucky” Luciano who came over in the 1920’s (Italian Organized Crime). Luciano structured La Cosa Nostra just like their Sicilian

The word Mafia itself has many meanings. In Arabic it means "refuge", which refers to the origins of the Mafia as a society that fled to the hills of Italy to avoid attack. Some Italians hold it as a word of high respect implying strength, courage, agility, quickness, endurance, and

and gangs were formed by the American Mafia. As years passed, the location of gangs had

The streets of the Eastern America cities would birth the most influential and largest hip hop scene. East Coast rap was started in the 1970 through block parties that were hosted in the streets of the Bronx. Young men, usually African Americans, took turns rapping over the beats laid by the deejays. Early artists who hail from New York, including DJ Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, the Sugarhill Gang, Kurtis Blow, Jam Master Jay, and Run-D.M.C., pioneered East Coast style. The style of most East Coast rappers was characterized by simplistic rhyme pattern laid over aggressive beats, and featured the use of metaphors and complex word play. These characteristics were especially prevalent in the earlier history of hip hop due to the amount of artists who utilized these characteristics. The topic matter of the artist usually ranged from rapping about one’s reputation (money, clothes, and girls) to lyrics dealing with social movements and the state of society. East Coast rap has impacted rap music by providing the basics and the foundation for modern day rap. The artists of this scene have been some of the most successful rappers to ever grace the genre (such as Notorious BIG, Nas, Jay-Z) and they represent their respective cities with dignity and a sense of hustling in the most

Hip Hop in the most popular genre of music between all African American communities, not just in America, but worldwide. Hip Hop has expanded itself into music, fashion, advertisement, movies, and it’s given many rappers, and those associated with the genre, the chance to influence their communities, societies and their culture in general, but commercial Hip Hop in the U.S. has branded Hip Hop in a negative way. (The Young and The Hip-Hop, Hip Hop Culture Center in Harlem, 2012, Web, Oct. 27, 2014) This is all due to the negative imagery and negative lyrics like the term nigga, negative implications of Hip Hop include exploiting black adolescent girls, promoting unhealthy lifestyles, and implying that the open use of the word nigga is not harmful. Hip Hop has become a global phenomenon where it has evolved from a genre of music to a lifestyle for the African American community.